Healthcare IT spending is expected to reach $40 billion by the end of this year, according to a studyfrom market research firm RNCOS.

Much of that growth will come from spending on electronic health record (EHR) systems, mobile health applications and efforts to comply with new government standards.

Boosted by increased spending on healthcare software -- which is needed for the rollout of EHR systems -- the U.S. healthcare IT market is expected to grow at a rate of about 24 percent per year from 2012 to 2014, the study said. Spending on healthcare software rose 20.5 percent in the past year, from $6.8 billion in 2010 to a projected $8.2 billion this year, according to RNCOS.

Recent mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare IT market also point to growing private-sector interest in software, which will see sales grow at rate of more than 30 percent annually from 2012 to 2014, the report said.

The study attributed some of the increase in spending to the Healthcare Reform Act, the new ICD-10 coding system and adoption of EHR systems, which will be mandatory by 2015. Also a factor: Medicaid enrollment, which is expected to increase by 16 million people by 2019.

ICD-10 is a comprehensive medical coding system that includes more than 55,0000 codes; hospitals are required to be using it by Oct. 1, 2013.

Life sciences hiring in the third quarter was up, according to the ZRG Partners Global Life Science Hiring Index. But unless workers were employed in Europe, Asia or Africa, they probably didn’t notice; the Americas actually saw a decrease in hiring that bucked the otherwise positive global trend.

Asia Pacific drove a 20 percent increase in hiring, while Europe/Middle East/Africa pushed a 10 percent hiring increase in the life sciences industry in Q3. The Americas saw a 2 percent decline in hiring. The index shows the good news in the Americas stemming from a 23 percent increase in hiring in life sciences research and development; all other work roles – sales and marketing, IT, finance, general and executive – saw drops in Q3 hiring.

The predicted five percent to seven percent growth of the global pharma industry surpasses the four to five percent pace of increase from 2010.

According to a forecast released last week by IMS Health, the value of the global pharmaceutical market is expected to grow five percent to seven percent next year, reaching $880 billion.The IMS forecast takes into account macroeconomic conditions, changing levels of patient access, availability of drug treatment options, and pricing factors.

As countries recover from the global economic crisis at different rates, there is growing divergence in the pace of pharmaceutical growth among major markets, says the report. The 17 pharmerging countries are forecast to grow at a 15 percent to 17 percent rate in 2011, to $170-180 billion. Many of these markets are benefiting from greater government spending on healthcare and broader public and private healthcare funding, which is driving greater demand and access to medicines. China, which is predicted to grow 25 percent to 27 percent to more than $50 billion next year, is now the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical market.

Among major developed countries, Japan is forecast to grow 5 percent to 7 percent in 2011. The five major European markets (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.) collectively will grow at a 1 percent to 3 percent pace, as will Canada.

The US will remain the single largest pharmaceutical market, with 3 percent to 5 percent growth expected next year. Pharmaceutical sales in the US will reach $320- $330 billion, up from $310 billion forecast for this year, not including the impact of off-invoice discounts or rebates.

Reversing course on a new law aimed at diminishing the influence on doctors of pharmaceutical and medical device companies, the House on Wednesday voted to strike the so-called gift ban law, which critics say has hurt commerce in the medical and restaurant industries.

An amendment to preserve the ban attracted 40 votes, with 108 against. The elimination of the gift ban was included in economic development legislation that cleared the House 145-4 and now needs to be reconciled with a Senate bill in a conference committee.

Critics of the ban said it was discouraging out-of-state interests from doing business in Massachusetts and said the ban had not led to demonstrable reductions in health-care costs. Supporters of the ban said the state had already heavily invested itself in implementing it and needed to give the law more time to work itself out. Ban supporters also said other states were pursuing similar bans and predicted the law could help reduce health-care costs and ensure that the interests of patients, not drug and device makers, are the top priority for physicians.